Five ways Berlusconi tried to dodge the ouster – and failed

It ain\’t over till it’s over. And even when it\’s over, it\’s not really over, when it comes to former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.

Take yesterday. The Forza Italia leader held a rally for supporters in front of his Roman palazzo — at almost exactly the same time the country\’s Senate was voting to boot the 77-year-old billionaire. Forget last-minute – try simultaneous.

\”It\’s a bitter day of mourning for our democracy,\” Berlusconi said, pledging to remain a thorn in the side of his opponents, according to The Wall Street Journal. \”We won\’t retreat to some convent. We\’re here, and we\’ll stay here.\”

It\’s only the latest move in Berlusconi\’s fight against a conviction for tax fraud that on Wednesday cost him his seat in the Italian parliament. The last several months have seen — among other strenuous efforts — courtroom battles, a bid to bring down the government, and a plea to the Pope himself.

Overkill? Well, maybe for some people. But for the media tycoon, more is at stake than the end of a two-decade-long political career.

Without his Senate seat, Berlusconi has no his parliamentary immunity. In the past, this prevented magistrates from arresting him during the course of a case, though it didn\’t shield him from prosecution. Now, he won\’t be able to delay a trial on the grounds he is tied up in political activity. And he has several court cases pending.

\”On several occasions, he has been able to delay the trials until they ran out of time. The statute of limitations is shorter on white-collar crimes, which are most of the cases he has been involved in,\” said Jonathan Hopkin, professor of political science at the London School of Economics. \”Now he won\’t be able to delay them so successfully.\”

That doesn\’t mean it\’s game over, according to Hopkin.

\”He\’ll try everything possible, and he still has many people in parliament who depend on him and are loyal to him. He can still leverage his popularity to make life harder on the judges, but it will not be as easy as before,\” he added.

And that\’s one thing you can say about Berlusconi. He\’s persistent. Here\’s a snapshot of some of the antics he\’s pulled off in his efforts to avoid expulsion:

1. Appealed to the European Court of Human Rights: In September, ahead of Senate discussions on whether to oust him, Berlusconi launched a challenge in the European Court of Human Rights, saying the Italian law — which bans people sentenced to two years or more from entering parliament — was being misapplied.

In a 33-page filing, \”Silvio Berlusconi against Italy\”, he argued that his tax fraud occurred before the law was introduced. Citing his popularity, he claimed his dismissal would break \”the legitimate expectation of voters that he remain in office for the remainder of the legislature,\” according to the Telegraph.

2. Threatened to bring down the government: Later that same month, Berlusconi tried to throw the government under the bus. His party\’s five ministers in government all declared they were planning to resign from the cabinet. That triggered the need for a parliamentary vote of confidence for current Prime Minister Enrico Letta — which not only raised the prospect of renewed political turmoil in Italy, but gave financial markets the jitters.

But Berlusconi backpedaled after several allies showed their unhappiness with the move to take down the government, ending up supporting Letta.

3. Asked President Giorgio Napolitano for a pardon: Berlusconi has repeatedly hinted at reasons why he deserves a pardon for the tax-fraud conviction. On Saturday, he came out and demanded that the Italian president let him off the hook. Not that he made a formal request: He just wanted Napolitano to hand it to him on a plate.

Napolitano rejected the call, saying Berlusconi had failed to behave in a way that would lead to a pardon.

4. Begged senators to keep him in Senate: A few days before the final vote, the ex-prime minister made a direct call to senators, offering to show fresh evidence to prove his innocence of fraud. This proof was new statements from 12 witnesses and 15,000 pages of documentation from Hong Kong, according to media reports. One of the witnesses — TV producer Frank Agrama — swore in a U.S. affidavit that the scandal-ridden politician never took part in the tax-avoidance scheme, those reports said.

5. Turned to the Pope for help: On Thursday, just a day after the media tycoon was stripped of his Senate seat, his girlfriend Francesca Pascale said she would ask Pope Francis to help clear his fraud conviction. The 28-year-old told Italian daily Corriere della Sera that the Senate decision was a \”coup d\’etat\” and called the situation a tragedy, according to the Telegraph.

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